Summer 2019 POL 241 Chap 5 "Problematic Lucidity: Stephen Krasner's "State Power and the Structure of International Trade" By Robert Keohane"

Elayne Guzman

Problematic Lucidity: Stephen Krasner's "State Power and the Structure of International Trade" By Robert Keohane.

Quote:

“Some of the appeal of “State Power” derives from its clear specification puzzle. Puzzles are central to social science, and Krasner’s puzzle is an important one. Why, he asks, has the world economy vacillated between openness and closure? Krasner carefully defines the continuum between openness and closure. While acknowledging the significance of movements of capital, labor and technology, he focuses on trade”.

Meaning/Chosen:

    Keohane focuses on openness and closure in the structure of international trade that Krasner argued. In terms of openness, state power is related to hegemonic ascendency that is more likely to create openness and also determines economic patterns.  A powerful state with a technology advantage over other states will desire an open trading system as it seeks new export markets. Furthermore large powerful states are less exposed to the international economy than small ones, so Krasner called “the opportunity cost of closure’ will be lower too.

      According to Keohane, a crucial factor in Krasner’s argument is his claim that states do not always privilege wealth over other goals. Political power and social stability are also crucial and this means that, although open trade may well provide absolute gains for all states who engage in it, some states will gain more than others.  Keohane makes the interest point that it was powerful not only because it subverted the conventional wisdom, of liberals, but because it contained flaws and suggested further avenues for research that inspired a whole generation of scholars.

Reference:

Problematic Lucidity: Stephen Krasner's "State Power and the Structure of International Trade" Author(s): Robert O. Keohane Source: World Politics, Vol. 50, No. 1, Fiftieth Anniversary Special Issue (Oct., 1997), pp. 150-170.